


if i controlled time, i'd spend all mine with you

by mischievous



Series: this is who we are together [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M, and hey - the fun's in the journey amirite?, but it took me forever to get to the point!, i got there eventually (more or less...), i wrote this for only one reason, this was a lot of fun to write :), yeah it is!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-10 23:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12922248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischievous/pseuds/mischievous
Summary: Steve still needs to know why his memories and Tony's are so wildly out of sync.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I failed to tie up some loose ends in my previous fic, I wrote a sequel. (It takes me a while to get to the point, heh. But I do ~~eventually~~ answer the question: what did happen to cause Tony and Steve's mismatched memories?) Follows on from _[if these walls could talk (they'd probably tell us to get our act together)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12788787)_.  I have trouble coming up with titles... is it obvious?! ;P

Steve's eyes are burning, red-rimmed and gritty, and the muscles in his back scream at him to move. He pushes away from the desk and stands up, contorting himself into a yoga sequence that Natasha taught him a couple of weeks ago before stretching up towards the ceiling, arching his back as he tries to loosen the muscles across his shoulders.

He doesn't know how Tony can spend as much time working at a computer as he does, because Steve's only been doing this for a day and a half and he's ready to throw every computer in the tower out of the nearest window. If he didn't want answers so badly he'd agree with Tony that they should just give up, but they were apart for nearly six months when they could've been together and Steve can't let go of the wasted time.

They're together now, and this past week has been one of the best weeks of his life, but he still wants to know what happened. It's bothering him that his memories and Tony's are so wildly different.

He _needs_ to know who's responsible.

He doesn't understand why Tony's been so reluctant about this, his often tenacious curiosity entirely absent as Steve drives the search forward. Tony’s helped and he's had Jarvis working with Steve when he’s forced to focus on Stark Industries, but no matter how skilled Jarvis is, he isn't as good as his creator.

Steve yawns and rubs his eyes, eyeing Tony’s couch. Tony disappeared for a conference call with Pepper half an hour ago, leaving Steve in his lab to continue watching security footage. Steve thinks he shouldn’t but he’s kind of tempted to lie down for a few minutes and take a break.

He caves and stretches out on the couch with a groan, closing his eyes in relief.

DUM-E chirps at him excitedly and waves a smoothie glass in his direction. The dark streaks bring to mind one of Tony’s horror stories about oil smoothies, and Steve shakes his head at the bot, who immediately drops his head.

“I do believe that it would be wise to avoid this particular beverage, Captain, no matter how well intentioned,” Jarvis says, before communicating something to DUM-E.

Steve's not concerned. DUM-E looks dejected at least sixty percent of the time, though never more so than when Tony isn't there to yell at him. Steve's convinced he sees the yelling as affection and, knowing Tony, it probably is.

"Thanks, Jarvis," Steve says. "I remembered Tony's warning. I do appreciate the thought, DUM-E."

DUM-E brightens, rolling over to poke Steve with his beak, and Steve lifts a hand to pet him absently.

His body is finally relaxing, familiar with every inch of this couch, and his mind drifts.

Being in a relationship with Tony is teaching him a lot about the man he’d thought he already knew. Tony is surprisingly selfless and quietly affectionate, craving touch and connection. He doesn’t like being handed things but he does like to cuddle into Steve’s arms at night, face pressed to the crook of his neck, and frequently falls asleep with his hand resting over Steve’s heart so he can feel it beating.

Steve has always known that a lot of his public persona is a mask, but he hadn’t realised how good it would feel to be on the inside, instead of the outside looking in.

“You okay there, Rogers?”

Natasha’s voice startles him and he opens his eyes as she sits down on the edge of the couch. She’s dressed comfortably, vivid red hair falling across her face. She looks happy.

“I hate computers,” Steve says, aware it sounds whiny but unable to care. “My eyes hurt and my back aches. I don’t know how Tony spends this much time using them. Or Bruce,” he adds, just to watch her eyes light up a little at the mention of his name.

He likes seeing Natasha like this. Happy is a good look for her.

Natasha’s no slouch when it comes to computers either, though she's not as good as Tony. She gets points for at least faking sympathy for his plight, where Tony just rolled his eyes.

“They have the same problem,” Natasha says, smirking at him. “They just don’t care because their work is everything to them. After us of course,” she adds.

Steve nods.

“Obviously."

He’s taking up most of the couch because his serum-infused self is six foot plus of solid muscle, but he wriggles closer towards the back and moves his feet out of the way so that Natasha can lean against the opposite arm.

She swings her feet up, poking him in the ribs with sock-covered toes. He bats her away gently.

“Where is Tony, anyway?” Natasha asks, making herself comfortable. “I haven’t seen one of you without the other all week.”

“Conference call,” Steve says, and it’s enough of an explanation for someone who’s worked for both Tony and Pepper at Stark Industries.

“The stock looked good this week,” Natasha says, picking absently at a loose thread in the leggings she’s wearing. "Pepper has to be happy with that."

The leggings look like they belong to her but the sweater is definitely one that Steve has seen Bruce wearing.

"Let's hope so," he says, trying not to imagine the chaos that will follow if they’re wrong.

Natasha looks amused. Steve has always been a little twitchy about Pepper and it only got worse when he started dating Tony. They’ve only met in passing and they’ve never had to work together. Pepper tries to stay out of Avenger’s business and Steve has nothing to do with the day-to-day running of SI.

"You'd like her a lot if you got to know her better," Natasha says. "Pepper's more or less single-handedly responsible for keeping Tony alive long enough for you two to meet."

Steve supposes that's true. Tony's the smartest man he's ever met, but his self-preservation skills are... lacking.

"I like Pepper," Steve points out. "And how am I supposed to get to know her better? I never see her."

"She's coming to New York next week," Natasha says, as if she's been waiting for him to say that, and Steve wonders if this whole conversation happened purely so she could convey that information. "She'll definitely be coming to the tower for dinner and possibly staying here. You can get to know her then."

"I feel like I just walked into a trap," Steve mutters, shooting his friend a mildly exasperated look. "Yes, Natasha. I'll make friends with Pepper when she comes to New York next week."

"Good boy," she says, ignoring his tone. "It'll make your life easier in the long run."

Steve raises an eyebrow in question and Natasha rolls her eyes at his naivety.

"Do you think Tony's going to be happy if you two don't get along? Sure she's his ex and Stark Industries' CEO but, outside of Rhodey, she's also the one person who's always stuck around, no matter how much of a mess he became. Tony thinks she walks on water even when she's mad at him. You don't want to be on the opposite side of that."

Steve blinks. He hadn't thought about it that way. Tony is fiercely protective of Pepper but Steve has always assumed it's a holdover from when they were dating.

He hadn't thought that perhaps it came first. Natasha pats his leg.

Steve’s opening his mouth to say something else when Tony walks back through the door, his eyes immediately zeroing in on the couch.

DUM-E chirps a welcome and Tony strokes his side on the way past.

“Well, this looks cozy,” Tony says, grabbing a chair with one hand and wheeling it over to the couch. He leans in to kiss Steve before he sits down.

“What bring you to the workshop, itsy bitsy? Is that Bruce’s sweater? I’m trying to _improve_ his fashion sense and instead he’s corrupting you.”

Natasha ignores his commentary on her clothes.

“Just stopped by to say hello,” Natasha says, offering Tony a smile. “How’s Pepper?”

“She’s good, she’s coming to visit next week.”

“You should invite her to join us all for dinner,” Natasha suggests and Steve just _looks_ at her. Luckily, Tony doesn't notice. “It’s been a while and I know Bruce misses her.”

Bruce had lived at the tower with Tony and Pepper before the rest of them moved in. By the time they did, Tony and Pepper were in the process of breaking up and she’d already moved out.

Tony brightens. “Oh, that’s a good idea!”

Steve feels as if he's just been played.

Sometimes Steve wonders if he should be jealous of Pepper. Natasha wasn’t wrong when she said Tony adores her, even now that they’re just friends. Pepper can control Tony’s wilder impulses to a degree that Steve’s never tried and Tony still calls her to ask for her opinion on something at least twice a week.

He trusts Tony and he knows the breakup was mutual. He doesn’t have an extensive frame of reference to know if this is just the way that people handle things in the present day, but the numerous television shows and movies he’s seen indicate that it’s not the case. It’s a Tony and Pepper thing.

If Tony ever breaks up with him, he’s not sure he could handle it the way that Pepper has.

“It’d be nice to spend some time with her,” Steve says. “I don’t really know her all that well.”

“That’s true,” Tony says, eyes widening in realisation. “Pep had gone back to California when you moved in. I’ll make sure she comes to dinner, I want you two to get along.”

“I’m sure we will, Tony.”

“Of course you will,” Tony says, dismissing any other possibility. “It’s you and it’s Pepper.”

Steve hopes like hell he's right.

“Ms. Romanov,” Jarvis says. “I believe Doctor Banner is looking for you. He said to inform you that he will be in the kitchen in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Jarvis.” Natasha swings her feet to the floor and stands up. “Can you let him know I’ll meet him there?”

“Of course.”

“See you later, boys,” she says, ruffling Tony's hair as she sashays past. "Tony, try not to blow anything up."

"It's been weeks!" Tony protests, indignant. "I haven't blown anything up in weeks!"

"You set fire to something _three days ago_ ," Steve points out. "It still counts!"

Natasha's laughter floats behind her as she leaves to meet Bruce.

Tony moves from his chair to join Steve on the couch, sprawling across him, and Steve wraps an arm around him to keep him close.

"Hi," Tony mumbles. "I'm tired."

"Mm," Steve says, noncommittal. "It's almost as if you pulled an all-nighter in your workshop _again_ last night when you could've been sleeping instead."

Tony peeks up at him as if trying to decide how serious Steve is about that. His creative binges in the workshop will never go away, no matter who he's dating.

He hopes Steve knows that.

"I was gonna get you to help me cue up some more footage to watch," Steve says, carding his fingers through Tony's hair. "But it can wait until tomorrow."

Tony tenses almost imperceptibly.

"Maybe we can talk about why you're being so weird about this instead," Steve adds, deciding he’s tired of not addressing it.

They’d agreed that they’d communicate, they can’t fail at it one week in. He really wants to know what Tony's thinking, but Tony seems determined to keep his thoughts on this to himself.

"I'm not being _weird_ about this."

"Tony, you won't talk about it and you won't help me look for answers— do you not _want_ to know what happened?"

Tony sits up, breaking out of Steve's hold. Steve could stop him but he doesn't, lets this play out however Tony needs it to. Tony gets to his feet and paces, one hand swiping through his hair. He's agitated, in a way Steve realises he hasn't seen all week.

"Of course I want to know!" Tony says, but it rings hollow to Steve.

"So what's the problem?"

Tony refuses to meet his eyes.

Steve lies there watching him, waiting patiently.

There are times to push Tony but Steve's learnt there are also times when that approach won't work. He's getting better at speaking Stark.

"Why do you assume there's a problem?"

Steve refuses to justify that with an answer. Tony shifts under his gaze, eyes darting to Steve and away again.

The thing is, Steve knows he's tired. He's never liked that Tony works himself so hard, but his all-night creative binges are just a part of who is. He's hitting the end of the stretch and Steve knows that if he lets Tony off the hook, Tony will be back in his arms and asleep within five minutes. He _wants_ Tony to sleep.

But Steve can only ever seem to get answers from Tony when Tony's not at his best. Tony's a master at manipulating a conversation when he tries, or when he wants to avoid something badly enough.

"Fine," Tony says finally, irritated but not enough that Steve's concerned.

He sits down in the chair again and rolls it closer to Steve, leaning forward, hands on his knees. Steve doesn't know what could possibly be bad enough to warrant this much drama.

"You remember about nine or ten months back, when my insomnia flared up?" Tony asks.

Okay— scratch that. He does know. Because, _oh my god_ , Steve remembers.

If you'd been a resident of the tower at the time, it was officially known as the worst two weeks of your life. When it was finally over, everyone had agreed that they wouldn't survive it again.

Tony had stopped sleeping. For days and days at a time.

He was manic, near insane. He built Clint a robot for target practice and eleven new kinds of explosive arrows one night, then tried to build a time machine the next. The night after he created new bites for Natasha that knocked Thor out for _sixteen hours,_ then tried to shoot Bruce because he missed the Other Guy and Bruce wouldn't let him out to play.

(Natasha had managed to calm him down but it was a near-miss and Bruce had avoided Tony for two days afterwards, reducing an impossibly tired Tony into a fit of childlike devastation. There had almost been tears.)

So, yeah. Steve definitely remembers.

He also doesn't like where this is going.

Tony continues, "In the second week I had those gala events for SI that I couldn't get out of, and then we had that thing for the Avengers. I can't remember which of those nights we had the conversation, but it was one of them. It was just the two of us, out on the balcony."

"Okay..." Steve says slowly.

Tony looks at him and he looks almost scared.

"I still don't think I hallucinated it," Tony says, "It's too clear. But I don't remember half the details of those two weeks, Steve. I could barely function some days, other days my brain was working quad-speed. What if we dig through all this footage and all we find is me talking to myself or something equally fucking stupid and then you break up with me because it'll all be _my fault_."

"Tony, I'm not going to break up with you, even if you did hallucinate the whole thing," Steve says gently, reaching out to take his hand. "I promise that isn't going to happen. No matter what."

Tony lets Steve pull him back to the couch, settling into Steve's body, eyes already drifting shut. He forces them open and Steve realises how much this has been tormenting him when Tony whispers,

"But what if it was just that? What if this is all my fault and we were apart because of something that was all in my head?"

"Then we'll know what happened and we can forget about it." Steve rests his head against Tony's. "We're together now and _that's_ what matters. But what if it wasn't your imagination? We need to check it out and make sure it's not a threat."

"That's what Pepper said," Tony sighs.

Steve's surprised. He's not sure it's in a good way.

"You talked to Pepper about this?"

"Well, yeah," Tony says, as if _he's_ surprised that Steve would ask. "I mean, I told her about the conversation on the balcony after it happened because I just needed to talk about it and I couldn’t do that with anyone here. Then I was telling her we were together, 'cause I didn't want her to find out from someone else and she's coming to visit this week, and she asked me about it."

He stiffens as if he’s just realised something.

"Are you not okay with me telling things to Pepper," he asks. "It's just, she's been listening to me talk about all of my stupid shit for so long now that it's kind of a habit. She's my friend."

"She's also your ex-girlfriend," Steve points out, feeling a little ridiculous. "I guess I just thought it would be weird for you to talk about that."

"Pepper's magical," Tony says in all seriousness, which doesn't help. He continues, "Sometimes, anyway. We were friends before we dated and Pepper turned us back into friends. It was sort of awkward for a bit but now it's just like it was before. I don't have so many friends that I can afford to lose them."

“I guess I just wish you’d talk to _me_ about all your ‘stupid shit’,” Steve says, brushing a gentle kiss to Tony’s cheek. “I’m never going to mind you talking to Pepper if you're talking to me as well."

"I don't tell her everything," Tony says, looking up at him with earnest eyes. "I wouldn't tell her things about us that are ours."

Steve lets him off the hook.

"I believe you," he says, cupping Tony's cheek in his palm. "It's okay, Tony."

It takes a minute but Tony relaxes against him, apparently content that his words are the truth.

"I promise I'll help," Tony yawns. "Really help. But can we please sleep first?"

He sounds almost whiny and despite it being three o'clock in the afternoon, Steve thinks he could be convinced into a nap if Tony's with him.

"Go to sleep," he says with a gentle brush of his thumb. "We'll come back to it tomorrow."

When Tony's this exhausted he can fall asleep in seconds. Steve listens to his breathing deepen and thinks about the conversation they just had.

He's still awake a few hours later, drifting close to sleep but never quite getting there, when Jarvis says very quietly,

"Shall I tell Ms. Romanov and Doctor Banner that you won't be joining the team for dinner?"

Natasha's thing over the last few weeks has been that she wants Bruce to teach her how to make curry. Every Wednesday, without fail, they try again. She's widely known as The One Who Can't Cook (run for your life!) but Bruce has been patient with her. While none of them trust Natasha to cook without supervision, Steve trusts Bruce enough to know that he won't feed them anything lethal.

(They'd had to get takeout one of the first weeks. Bruce's only explanation had been a pained, "Spice incident." Steve had decided that he didn't want to know.)

"That would be great, Jarvis. Thanks."

He still looks up at the ceiling whenever he's talking to Jarvis, instinctively aiming it at whatever spot sounds loudest. It's a habit he can't break himself of.

Tony calls it 'cute'.

Tony starts to wake up, restlessly reorienting himself, snuffling into Steve's shoulder. Steve murmurs soothing nonsense at him until he settles back into sleep, then closes his eyes and joins him.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony feels better when he wakes up in the morning. At some point, they relocated from the couch in his workshop to his bed in the penthouse. Tony's not sure if he got here on his own two feet or if there now exists embarrassing footage of Steve carrying him through the halls of the tower. He makes a mental note to check with Jarvis and, if there is, erase it before Natasha gets her hands on it. If Clint sees it, he'll never live it down.

It's not often he's awake before Steve. He falls asleep after him all the time but rarely gets to wake up first. It's somehow different to lie here with him in the daylight, instead of in the dark, watching the sun highlight his hair golden as he sleeps.

He supposes Steve has a point with this _talking it out_ thing that he's suddenly so fond of, because confessing his worries to Steve yesterday seems to have helped. It definitely helps to know for sure that Steve's not going to kick his ass to the curb if it does turn out that he's just crazy.

He still doesn't think he is.

All those gala events are blurred together in his memory, even though he remembers his conversation with Steve with crystal clarity. He doesn't know exactly which gala is the one their conversation happened at, but it does narrow down the timeframe.

He checks the time, surprised to realise it's almost seven am. He's not usually up at this time unless he's still up, but Steve often runs in the mornings. He wonders why he didn't today.

He brushes the back of his hand across Steve's cheek, still amazed that he gets to have this, and snuggles closer. He doesn't feel the usual pull to _move_ , to start doing something, anything, that often accompanies waking.

He's comfortable. He doesn't want to move.

Naturally, that's when Steve wakes up.

Blue eyes blink at him sleepily as the super soldier pulls him closer, nuzzling his neck.

"Hi," Steve says, smiling as he offers their now-traditional greeting. Tony loves him, with everything he is.

"Hi," he says back. "You didn't go running today."

"Woke up, didn't wanna move," Steve mumbles, eyes flickering closed again. "Comfy."

"It was nice to wake up with you."

They've been sharing a bed for a week — just to sleep, they're taking it slow — but between Steve being a morning person and Tony's sleep schedule being a mess, they're rarely in it for long at the same time.

Steve smiles against his skin. "We need to figure out a compromise to make it happen more often," he says. "I like it too."

Tony kisses him, soft and quick.

"Unfortunately, I need to get up soon and make breakfast," Steve sighs. "Our ragtag bunch of superheroes get cranky if they don't get fed."

"I think they're your superheroes," Tony says. "And they should learn to feed themselves."

"They're ours and _you_ need to learn to feed yourself," Steve points out. "But you don't, and that's another reason I have continued to cook breakfast for the team every morning since I moved in."

"Because I don't know how to feed myself?"

"You and Bruce. But if I cook the food, Natasha can get him to the kitchen to eat it, so that works out. Getting _you_ to the kitchen to eat breakfast has been a helluva lot harder."

"Well, I was avoiding you," Tony says reasonably. "So that I didn't jump you."

"And now you don't need to avoid me, because you have permission to jump me," Steve teases, "So you can come and eat breakfast with everyone else."

"Fine," Tony huffs, "But not yet."

There's still time this morning that belongs just to them. Tony's not ready to get up and share Steve with the rest of the world. He felt the same way about Pepper from time to time during their relationship, but he feels it about Steve whenever they're together.

"Half an hour," Steve says, "Any longer and Clint's going to be knocking down the door."

"Not true." There's a mischievous glint in Tony's eyes. "Coulson finally stayed at the tower last night."

"You had something to do with it, I'm guessing," Steve says, carding his fingers through Tony's hair. "How'd you talk him into that?"

"I didn't," Tony says, shaking his head. "I just told him he was always welcome to stay here and not to let anything stop him spending his downtime with Clint."

Steve kisses him, drawing him in closer.

"You're a softie, Tony Stark."

"Blasphemy," Tony murmurs, chasing another kiss.

They spend the next half an hour trading lazy kisses and occasionally discussing their plans for the day. Tony kind of wants to bring up Pepper visiting again, because he's not sure that Steve's really okay with it, but he doesn't want to ruin their morning.

Still, they're on a roll with the talking thing.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asks Steve, idly tracing patterns across his chest with his fingertips.

"Of course you can. What is it?"

"Are you really okay with having Pepper come visit? Staying in the tower and joining us for dinner? I know we kind of talked about it but I want to make sure."

"Pepper's CEO of Stark Industries and one of your best friends," Steve points out. "You need to see her, Tony. And I really would like the chance to get to know her. I think that's why it's a little weird for me, 'cause I don't know her at all. Nat seems to think we'd get along."

"Itsy bitsy's a good judge of these things."

"So I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Okay," Tony says, but he sounds doubtful.

Steve shifts so he can look Tony in the eye, cupping his cheek in his palm.

"Tony, I promise I'm okay with Pepper coming to visit," he says, seriously, refusing to break eye contact. "If at any point I'm not okay with it, I'll talk to you."

Tony looks somewhat mollified, leaning in to kiss Steve again. He knows they're going to have to get up soon, they're running out of time.

True enough, Jarvis interrupts them a few moments later.

"Good morning, Sir. Captain. I apologise for interrupting you but as you are both awake, I'm afraid I must inform you that Ms. Romanov is requesting to know if you'll be making breakfast this morning, or if they're expected to 'waste away until lunch time'."

"Why can't they _order_ breakfast and have it delivered?" Tony whines. "I'll pay for it!"

Steve thinks it's just that all of them are drawn to having meals together as a team. It's why they tend to gather most nights for dinner and why they all seemed so attached to breakfast. Steve knows he’s not a bad cook, but they definitely don’t turn up every morning for his food alone.

"Jarvis, tell Natasha I'll be there soon. And maybe to start the coffee."

"Of course, Captain."

Tony pouts but throws back the covers, conceding to the fact that they're getting up. Steve uses the arm still around his waist to stop him from moving.

"Don't forget," he says, claiming a final kiss before letting him go. "It's Coulson's first breakfast in the tower with us, so be nice."

Tony brightens, scrambling out of bed with a gleeful smile.

"I get to tease Katniss and Agent!" he says, heading for the door. "I need coffee first. Lots of coffee! Thank god even Natasha can't ruin coffee."

Steve thinks that Clint might disagree with that. Natasha's coffee is strong and dark and packs a punch; Bruce and Tony are really the only two that like it. He sighs and follows Tony towards the elevator.

When they arrive at the kitchen, Natasha is there with Bruce, Clint and Coulson, the latter looking a little uncomfortable. Steve offers him a smile as Tony bounds past them all, hands extended towards the coffee machine.

"Coffeeeee!" he announces gleefully, looking around for something to put his coffee in, apparently unaware of the mug tree behind him.

As he picks up the bowl he's spotted first, Natasha intervenes, swapping it for one of the Avengers mugs that Tony purchased as a set the minute he discovered they existed.

"Jesus," Clint says, leaning against Coulson's chair as he watches Tony gulp down half the mug without pausing to breathe. "That ain't healthy, Stark."

"Shut up, Katniss," Tony says, eyes closed as he communes with his beverage. "I didn't ask for your opinion. Agent, nice to see you. Did you sleep okay?"

"You know, I have a name," Coulson says, amused and unruffled. "And I did, thank you."

"Not that we did much sleeping," Clint adds, just to watch a series of horrified expressions chase themselves across Tony's face. "Comfortable beds, though. Right, Phil?"

"Very," Coulson says, not above tweaking Tony just a little. "Now behave."

"Thought you preferred it when I didn't," Clint purrs and Coulson rolls his eyes, catching the apple Natasha throws at her partner's head before it can connect.

Steve watches, admiring how Coulson interacts with their resident spy twins. The three of them have known each other a lot longer than the rest of them have been around, and it shows in the easy way Coulson handles them both.

Clint is Natasha's official handler and has been ever since he brought her to SHIELD, but Phil is his and by extension is ultimately responsible for both of them.

Steve's glad that job belongs to someone other than him.

He heads to the fridge, removing eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, sausages and bacon, debating the merits of pancakes.

"Anyone want pancakes?" he asks, as he arranges the other foods on the side, pulling pans from cupboards.

Steve noticed Bruce perk up in the background, where he's seated next to Natasha. It's gratifying to find something Bruce actually wants to eat for breakfast. He's hard to read and generally eats something from whatever's available without complaint.

"Bruce, you want pancakes?"

"Only if you're already making them," Bruce says. "If it's just me, then don't worry about it, I'll eat something else."

"I want pancakes," Tony says immediately, echoed by Natasha and Coulson. Bruce looks grateful.

Steve would've made pancakes just for Bruce, and makes a mental note to add them into most of his breakfasts from now on. Bruce often refuses to ask for what he wants.

"Pancakes it is," he says, opening cupboards. "At some point, I'm gonna need someone to make toast. Preferably someone who can do it without burning the kitchen down, but I'm guessing Jarvis can help keep an eye on things."

"Indeed, Captain," Jarvis breaks in smoothly. "I would recommend someone other than Sir or Doctor Banner."

"Jarvis!"

"Hey!"

"I am sorry, but you do both tend to get rather distracted by other things," Jarvis says, not sounding in the least bit sorry to Tony and Bruce. "Someone else would be preferable."

"I'll do it," Coulson says, sliding off his chair and coming to join Steve. "I think I can avoid burning toast. Want me to get this started while you do that?" He gestures at the rest of the food, and Steve nods, surprised.

The others never offer to help, although that's often for the best. It's nice to have someone else to cook with, while Tony and Bruce inhale coffee and Clint and Natasha have a silent conversation that the rest of them aren't invited to join.

"Was everything okay?" Steve asks quietly, once the others are distracted with their own conversations. "Staying here last night?"

He feels like he's prying but he wants to make sure Coulson felt comfortable enough to come back. He knows it must be hard on Clint, being separated from Coulson on the nights Clint stays in the tower.

"Incredibly comfortable," Phil says, equally quietly. "I don't even want to know what Stark probably paid for those mattresses."

Steve gets it. The night he moved in, he thought he was sleeping on clouds.

"I bet Clint was glad to have you here."

Coulson gives him a wry smile.

"He's wanted me to stay for a while but I wanted to make sure it was okay with the team first, give you a chance to bond with each other before I came and brought the lingering reminder of SHIELD with me. I'm glad I'm here now."

"We're glad you are too," Steve says, feeling safe in speaking for the team this time. "Stay here as often as you want. Hell, Tony will probably just assume you're moving in and get pissed off when he wants to talk to you and can't find you."

Coulson laughs, drawing Clint's attention. Steve watches as Clint's eyes light up, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

"I'll think about it," Coulson says, his eyes drawn to Clint, whose smile becomes full-blown.

They return to their respective tasks, listening to the conversations behind them. Tony and Bruce are arguing theory, getting progressively more enthusiastic, while Natasha and Clint have moved on to debating the merits of a mission they once did in Amsterdam.

It carries them through the rest of the food prep, Steve particularly enjoying Coulson's quiet commentary on the mission Natasha and Clint are talking about.

Having Coulson in the tower would be a welcome addition, Steve thinks, and hopes he moves in sooner rather than later.

When he's plated everyone's food and they're all settled round the table, the conversation turns to Tony and Steve's memory dilemma. They'd told the team about it over dinner two days ago, and they'd all immediately offered to help.

"We've narrowed down the time frame," Steve says now, as he links his fingers through Tony’s and squeezes gently in reassurance. Tony has gone very quiet. "It was during The Weeks We Never Speak Of."

Everyone pales and Tony winces when he sees it.

"Sometime in the second week," Steve adds, "One of the events. We're gonna review them later."

"You don't know which one?" Coulson asks.

"No— oh!" Steve suddenly breaks off, squeezing Tony's hand for a different reason as he looks at him. "Pepper!"

"What about Pepper?" Tony looks confused.

"You said you talked to her about it," Steve says, seeing Tony turn defensive and shaking his head to belay the response. "No, no, not like that. Pepper will remember what day it was!"

Tony relaxes beside him as he processes the thought, relieved it's not a Steve-and-Pepper problem that Steve's suddenly decided he has.

"Yeah," he says, realisation dawning. "Yeah, of course she will. I'll give her a call after breakfast."

"We can just wait until she gets here if you want?" Steve offers. "It's only a couple of days."

Pepper's due into town in four days, and there's no apparent threat to them that he or anyone else can see. It can wait. Steve needs to know how this happened, but he's realising he doesn't need to know right this very second.

"This is really bothering you though," Tony points out, glancing a little uncomfortably at the others. Steve notes this is pushing the boundaries of what Tony's willing to share with the team.

"Not that much," Steve says, leaning over to kiss Tony lightly.

The kiss lingers as Natasha _aww_ ‘s at them and Tony flips her off without breaking it. Bruce finishes his pancakes, ignoring them both, while Coulson drinks coffee and observes.

"This is nauseating," Clint whines, covering his eyes. "I'm going to lose my breakfast!"

Coulson shuts him up with a kiss. He loves Clint and has done for years, but he can be an annoying little shit when he wants to be. Natasha's just as bad. It makes them a fantastic team in the field but a nightmare to manage.

"What are you trying to remember?" he asks Tony and Steve as he sits back.

"We have a memory problem," Tony says, waving a dismissive hand. "We're dealing with it."

"Tony remembers us having a conversation that I don't remember," Steve adds, more helpfully. "It was quite an important one, so we're trying to figure out what happened."

Coulson processes the potential implications and then nods. He's confident Steve has it under control.

"If I can help, let me know," he says seriously, then changes the conversation to everyone's plans for the day.

-

After breakfast, Steve and Tony head down to the workshop to call Pepper. Tony's insistent that Steve should be there, since it involves both of them, and Steve's strangely nervous.

Pepper Potts, when the video call connects, is the same slender, striking, redhead he remembers from television interviews. The effect is somehow more intense when it's accompanied by the full focus of her attention.

"Tony!" she says, "Please tell me you aren't having another crisis because my morning is _packed_ and—"

"No, no, no," Tony hurries to assure her. "I'm not having a crisis. Well, not a new one anyway."

"That's good to know," Pepper is warm and amused. "Hi, Steve," she adds, wiggling her fingers in a hello.

"Hi, Miss Potts," Steve says, feeling somewhat intimidated by the woman on the screen.

Pepper has a commanding presence. Her hair is pulled back into a knot at her nape and she's wearing a crisp white shirt with a navy blue jacket that looks more expensive than anything Steve owns, bike included.

He and Tony are still in the t-shirts and pajama pants they'd slept in. He feels woefully underdressed.

"Call me Pepper," Pepper says, "Everyone does. I'm not fancy enough to be 'Miss Potts'."

"That's true," Tony agrees, laughing when Pepper rolls her eyes at him. "Like, take right now. Pep's got a morning of video conferences that she's doing from home because they started so early. You think she looks like a smartly dressed business women, right?"

He quirks an eyebrow at Steve, expecting a response. Steve nods obligingly as Pepper sighs and slouches back in her chair, eyeing Tony in disapproval.

"But in actual fact, that's just what you're seeing." Tony pauses for dramatic effect, leaning in close to Steve as he whispers, "She's totally wearing pajama pants." He shoots Pepper an amused look. "They might even have kittens on them."

Pepper laughs and swings her legs into view so they can see that she is, in fact, wearing pajama pants.

"Unicorns today," she says, her posture relaxed and open as she smiles at them across the distance.

Steve notices the hint of freckles on her face, mostly hidden with makeup, and the sparkle in her eyes, and feels more at ease with her than he did before.

"I actually wasn't kidding about my schedule," Pepper says regretfully. "What can I help you boys with?"

"It's about our memory problem," Steve says. "Can you remember what day it was Tony called you and talked about our conversation on the balcony? We're trying to narrow down the date."

"Sure," Pepper says, reaching for her cellphone. "Hang on, let me check. It was about ten months back, right? The insomnia weeks?"

"Yeah," Steve says, surprised she remembers. The serum ensures he remembers everything. Tony has an eidetic memory. And now it seems Pepper is another with near-perfect recall.

"July 27th," Pepper says, consulting her diary and her call log. "Well, I guess July 26th, if we talked on the 27th. I think it was the Avenger's thing, none of the dates match SI."

"Thanks, Pep," Tony says. "You're still coming to stay in a couple days?"

"Yeah, if that's okay." Her eyes are surprisingly gentle as they meet Steve's. "I'm going to be in town for three days, but I'll have meetings most of the time so I doubt I'll be underfoot."

"Miss—" Steve cuts himself off. "Pepper, this is your home. You're always welcome in it."

"Was," she corrects gently. "Now it belongs to all of you. I'm looking forward to visiting."

Her phone beeps and she glances at the notification, sighing as she does.

"Okay, you crazy kids, that's my five minute warning for the next meeting and I need more coffee, so I'm gonna go."

Steve and Tony say goodbye and Pepper cuts the call. Steve leans back against the couch so Tony can settle in against his shoulder, putting the Starkpad down.

"I like her," Steve says, because it's entirely true. "She was a little intimidating, I'm not gonna lie, but I like her a lot."

Tony's smile is as bright as the sun.

"And she gave us a date," Tony says. "July 26th. Jarvis, can you cue up any footage you can find from the party on July 26th."

"I will begin to assemble it now, Sir," Jarvis says. "It might take a few minutes to do so."

"Take your time, J. Just let us know."

He's entirely sure he can keep Steve occupied for a few minutes and more.


	3. Chapter 3

When breakfast ends Natasha follows Bruce to his lab. Clint is enjoying the rare gift of having Coulson in the tower and Steve’s occupied with Tony. There's no mission to focus on and no one demanding she spar with them. She's free to do as she pleases, and what pleases her is Bruce's company.

As they step into the elevator he links his fingers with hers and pulls her towards him to kiss her, soft and sweet. She turns into him to kiss him back, sliding an arm around his neck to keep him close, feeling safe when he wraps his arms around her waist.

After being chased by the Other Guy through the helicarrier, Natasha didn't think she'd ever really feel safe around Bruce, but she was drawn to him over and over again and now it doesn't matter. She does, but safe or not they're in this together.

(She knows Bruce still has nightmares about it. She does too. They look after each other.)

"You know, I'm not really in the middle of anything important right now," Bruce says, referring to his work, as the elevator opens on his lab floor and pauses, waiting for them to disembark. "Or no more important than usual," he adds. "I know watching me work must get boring. If you want, we could watch a movie or something instead?"

Natasha wants to snuggle up to him in a pile of duvets and blankets and let something play in the background as she zones in and out.

"A movie sounds good," she says, trying not to sound too pleased.

She and Bruce are still a work in progress. They spend all their time snuggling together on couches but it hasn't progressed past that yet. They both have their hang ups and it takes time to work past those, to build trust and understanding.

She's still sleeping in her bed alone and she just wants him in it, so she can sleep wrapped around him, mediating some of her worst nightmares with the irrefutable proof of his heartbeat under her palm and his arms warm around her.

"Common room? Or just us?"

"Just us," Natasha says, because he's offered it to her as an option and she'll never turn that down.

"I have popcorn, chocolate and ice cream on my floor, hopefully that'll suffice for snacks if you want any," he says. "For anything else, we’ll have to raid the main kitchen on the way."

"Only thing I need is you," Natasha says, wincing at how unbearably sappy that sounds, but meaning it all the same. "And blankets. And maybe cocoa?"

He smiles at her hopeful look as he nods and tells Jarvis to take them to his floor. Natasha curls into his side, happy with the way this week is going. She likes spending time on Bruce's floor, which feels more homely than her own, despite being equally sparsely decorated.

Neither of them have really figured out how to _own things_. She thinks maybe they'll learn together, and if they need advice they can always ask Tony. He’s got it down to an art.

"You pick a movie and I'll make the cocoa," Bruce suggests, as the elevator arrives at his floor and they both step out.

They've been on a nineties movie kick lately and Natasha decides to continue it. She's trying to pick between Twister and Good Will Hunting when Bruce calls, "It'll be ready in a couple of minutes."

She decides on Good Will Hunting, thinking Bruce will probably like it, and queues it up before she wanders into the kitchen. She comes up behind Bruce to wrap her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder.

The smell of chocolate hangs heavy in the air and she breathes in, enjoying it.

"Marshmallows?" Bruce asks, slanting a glance awkwardly backwards over his shoulder to meet her eyes.

Natasha makes a pleased sound of agreement and lets him go so he can pour hot cocoa into both their mugs, adding marshmallows to one.

"What movie did you pick?" he asks, handing hers to her.

"Good Will Hunting," Natasha says. "Have you seen it?"

She knows that even if he has, it's not the kind of thing he'll remember the details of unless he watched it recently.

"Maybe?" Bruce tries to think. "I don't remember it."

"I think you'll like it."

"I trust your opinion," Bruce says easily.

Natasha smiles at him and then frowns in concern when he yawns. He catches the look and returns it with apology.

"I didn't sleep very well," he says by way of an explanation. "One of those nights."

"You should have come to find me," Natasha scolds, knowing he'll have looked at the time and probably declared it too late.

"Jarvis said you were sleeping," Bruce says, surprising her. It warms her to know that his first thought had been to reach out to her the way they’d agreed on. "I wanted you to rest."

"Well, now I want _you_ to rest," Natasha says, taking him by the hand to lead him to his bedroom. "Jarvis, can you queue up the movie in the bedroom instead?"

"Of course, Ms. Romanov," Jarvis says.

The television switches on as they enter the room. Natasha half-draws the curtains to keep out the daylight, nudging Bruce towards the bed. The leggings she’s wearing and the sweatpants he’s wearing will be comfortable enough that they don’t need to change.

"This way," she says, "When you fall asleep, which you will, because you always do, you won't wake up all grouchy because you're in pain from sleeping on the couch."

"Grouchy, hm?" Bruce looks amused. Natasha conveniently avoids mentioning that this was exactly how she'd wanted to spend her morning.

They settle together comfortably and start the movie. Natasha rests her hand over his heart and lets the beat lull her into a haze, half listening to the movie even as her eyes drift closed.

Bruce yawns and cuddles closer, resting his head against hers. His breath ghosts over her cheek and she smiles, warm and content.

Sometime soon they need to talk about where this is going. She doesn't need to have sex with him to be with him, but she knows they both want to and she thinks they should probably talk it out. It seems to work wonders for Steve and Tony.

Bruce worries about control, for valid reasons, and she's still acclimatising to the intensity of what she feels for him. She can't remember the last time she had sex with someone she truly loved.

"What're you thinking about?" Bruce murmurs, sounding half asleep already. He radiates waves of heat and she's always cold.

"Us," she says honestly, revelling in the warmth surrounding her. "In a good way," she adds, when his expression turns concerned. "You make me happy, Bruce. You have to have figured that out by now."

"I always hope I do," Bruce says, kissing her temple. "You make _me_ happy. I like to think that's mutual."

Over the years Clint has tried to guide her towards finding something real. She always pushed back, quietly refusing to believe that she'd ever find someone she could connect with the way he did with Coulson and not sure the emotional risks would ever be worth it.

She'd used _love is for children_ as her mantra for so long that she'd begun to truly believe it, then Coulson sent her to collect Bruce from Calcutta and everything changed. Coulson’s orders came from Fury, and she wonders if either of them knew it would end like this.

"Did you think it would work out like this?" Natasha asks Bruce, idly curious. "When you met me? "

She'd been drawn to him from the very beginning, but it was only after the battle with Loki ended, as they moved into the tower and started spending more time together, that her feelings developed.

"The more time I spent with you, the more I wanted it to," Bruce says. "I didn't know if it would, but I hoped."

She hums as he runs his fingers through her hair, massaging gentle circles into her scalp with his fingertips. She can relax, really relax, when it's just the two of them. It's a new feeling for someone who’s spent her entire life on guard, looking over her shoulder for threats.

She tilts her head to kiss him and forgets entirely about the movie.

-

It's no great surprise to Phil when Clint drags him back to bed as soon as breakfast is over. They get so little time with each other, even less since Clint moved into the tower. So they tumble into bed, lost in the feel of skin on skin, wrapped up in a world made of two.

Phil's kind of glad the walls in the tower are soundproofed. Clint is surprisingly quiet in bed, but he isn't.

Clint falls asleep afterwards, sprawled across Phil who wraps an arm around him to keep him close. Clint always starts out in his arms but moves away in his sleep. He likes to take over as much of the bed as he can, which used to drive Phil crazy when they first started dating.

Phil rests his eyes but can't sleep, his mind whirring as he thinks about the next few days. He's due to head back to SHIELD tomorrow evening, Fury's sending a quinjet to collect him and ferry him back to the Helicarrier. He's not ready to go back, but he never really is.

He traces patterns across Clint's back and listens to him breathe, thinking back to a conversation he'd had with Maria around the beginning of their relationship. She'd warned him off dating Clint, pointing out that all the qualities that make him good at his job are the same ones that might make a relationship difficult.

He'd wondered if she might be right but dated Clint anyway. He doesn't regret it.

Maria's cynical about dating in general. He vaguely recalls rumors of a relationship with a fellow agent that went sour, but he hadn't paid attention to the details at the time, trusting that if it was something she’d wanted him to know, she would’ve told him herself. It’s never affected her performance.

Truth be told, Phil feels a little bad for Maria. While he's Clint's handler, she's his back-up, the one designated to step into his place if he should somehow become incapacitated. He doesn't envy her the job.

Clint will be near-impossible to control if anything happens to him, Phil's honest enough with himself to know that. Just like he's honest enough to know that he'll be worse if something happens to Clint.

He sends him off on these dangerous missions, one after the other, and so far Clint has always come back to him, eyes dancing with laughter and a story about his adventures.

Worst are the times he comes back injured, because it breaks something inside Phil to see him hurt. Natasha is an excellent partner to him, he couldn't ask for better, but it doesn't stop him worrying.

If something even worse happens to Clint, then Fury's _his_ handler, there to prevent him destroying anything he can in retribution.

(Maria's the back up plan. She drew all the short straws.)

Clint stirs, blinking slowly as he half-wakes. He wriggles closer, tightening his arm around Phil's waist, kissing his shoulder before resting his head there and closing his eyes.

He'll move away soon enough, Phil thinks with a fond smile, enjoying the moment for what it is.

He's surprised when Clint opens his eyes and says, "I've been thinking."

"Dangerous," he comments wryly. "About something in particular?"

"Well… SHIELD's relocating to New York from DC soon and I miss you when we're apart. I was thinking we could move in together."

The thing is: Phil would love to live with Clint. They've talked about it.

He'd love to have a place to call their own, a regular life away from work and the dangers they face, but he spends half his life on the Helicarrier at Fury's beck and call and Clint is the kind of person who needs to be around others. He‘s fine on his own when he’s on a mission with a focus, but when he isn’t he gets lost in his own head if he's left alone too long, ends up twitchy and restless.

He needs to be here, in the tower, with his best friend and his teammates. But maybe Steve had a point at breakfast— Phil could always ask Tony if he could move into the tower. Then, when he's away, Clint won't be alone. There are worse places to live than in Tony Stark’s home, and he's going to need to find somewhere when they relocate next month.

"I was thinking I'd ask Tony if he'd mind me moving in here with you," Phil says. "I get called away a lot, you know that. I've spent half this month on the Helicarrier. I don't want you spending that much time alone if Fury calls me in for a project."

Clint's smile is blinding.

"Yes," he says immediately. "Move in with me. This is a swanky place to live, Phil, you'll love it. Cap cooks breakfast every morning!"

"You could offer to help, you know," Phil says, smiling back at him because he can't not. Clint looks happier than he's been for a while.

"Nah," Clint says, hugging him tightly. "I think he likes it being his thing."

"I think he does it in the hopes that Tony will eat something."

"That too," Clint agrees, tilting his head to kiss his boyfriend. "And we all benefit from Steve thinking Tony’s nutritionally deprived. It’s win/win."

Phil just laughs and shakes his head, kissing him back. They really should get up and do something with the rest of their day — starting with a shower — but he's comfortable where he is.

"You're thinking about getting up, aren't you?" Clint says, eyeing him in resigned amusement. "I can always tell."

"I don't know how you do that," Phil says. Clint can tell every time. Phil's analysed himself to figure out what gives it away but he still doesn't know.

Clint usually laughs and refuses to tell him, but this time he says, "You get tense and your heart rate speeds up. It's subtle, but..." he gestures at the way their naked bodies are intertwined. "Not a lot stopping me from being able to feel it, y'know?"

"Well, since it's now on the table— shower?"

Clint's smile turns mischievous as he nods.

-

"Do you miss it? Being away from the city?"

They've forced themselves out of bed and Bruce has showered and dressed for the day. They're about to head down to her floor so she can do the same, since she doesn't have any clothes at Bruce's. She intends to remedy that soon.

"You mean do I miss being on the run?" Bruce asks wryly. "No, Natasha. I don't miss being on the run."

She rolls her eyes at him and drinks her coffee, waiting for him to answer the question.

"Sometimes I miss the quiet," Bruce says, after a moment. "There were still a lot of people but it never felt quite as crowded as New York does. It's never quiet here."

Natasha knows what he means. New York always feels busy.

She brings her coffee with her as they call the elevator to take them down a floor to hers. It feels colder down here, even though she knows it isn't. She has Jarvis keep it a couple of degrees warmer than most of the tower.

"I'm going to jump in the shower," she says, finishing her drink and setting the mug on the side. "Make yourself at home, I won't be long."

She leaves Bruce in the living room, collecting clothes from the bedroom on her way to the bathroom, calling to Jarvis to start the shower for her.

They've decided to go out for lunch, tempted by fresh air and a change of scenery. Natasha's quick with her shower and she wraps her hair in a towel as she dresses, layering her clothes in deference to New York's occasionally unpredictable weather.

She's debating leaving her hair to dry naturally as she wanders back into the living room in search of her favourite person. Bruce is in the big leather armchair he favours, reading his email on her Starkpad. He looks up when she enters.

"It's getting cold outside," he says as she pauses by the armchair and leans in to kiss him. "Dry your hair."

She kisses him again, lingering for a moment, before she heads back to her bedroom to do just that. She doesn't get sick but there's no point in tempting fate.

When she's finished she wraps a scarf around her neck and picks up a fluffy hat. She's not sure it's cold enough for a hat, they're not going that far away.

"You think I need a hat?" she calls through to Bruce.

"Hmm, probably not," Bruce says, surprising her by appearing in the doorway. "But you look cute wearing it."

"I'm not _cute_ ," Natasha says, affronted. "I'm terrifying."

"Right," Bruce says, leaning against the doorframe, eyes warm with affection. "That's what I meant."

She laughs at him but puts the hat on as she walks over to join him. He reaches out to snug it down more firmly over her ears, brushing her cheek with his fingers.

She kisses him again just because she can, protected in this bubble they've created for the two of them. They don't linger long, stepping back into the elevator which spirits them down to the lobby. This building is more than the Avengers home, a fact that Natasha tends to forget most of the time, and stepping out into a crowd of people is jarring.

A few minutes ago, they'd been alone together in a quiet space, and now reality is intruding. Bruce is noticeably tenser as they navigate through the crowd and head for the doors. She takes his hand in hers, linking their fingers and squeezing reassuringly. His grip tightens and he gives her a grateful smile, taking deep breaths as they step outside and walk away from the tower.

The air is crisp and Natasha's glad she wore the hat. They both remembered scarves but forgot gloves, something she suspects they'll regret later.

"Gloves," Bruce says, echoing her thoughts. "We _always_ forget gloves. Why is that?"

Natasha's saved from answering when both their phones ping at the exact same time. They exchange a wary look as they reach for them. Bruce half-hopes that it's Tony, setting some sort of alarm for if they leave the tower without telling him, but deep inside he knows it's not.

Natasha curses as she reads hers. Bruce reads his, suspecting they’re the same, registering _scepter_ and _HYDRA_ and _Canada_ with sinking dread. He's been enjoying the last Hulk-free few months and he doesn't really want to break that streak.

"I guess we're going back," Bruce says, looking around with a sigh.

They've barely made it to the end of the block.

"We're not going on this mission now," Natasha declares, about-turning towards the tower, pulling him with her. Her phone beeps again and she says, "Notification from Jarvis, Steve wants us to meet in the conference room."

"Do we really get a choice?" Bruce asks.

He knows that technically he does. He's not employed by SHIELD. He can say no and there's little they can do to force him, but it is Natasha's job. If she's going, he's going.

"No, not really," Natasha sighs as they re-enter the tower. A few people look confused to see them back so soon, but Natasha's glare soon redirects those people’s attention elsewhere.

They bypass the main elevator for the Avengers elevator, where Jarvis is waiting for them.

"I am sorry your excursion was cut short," Jarvis says, sounding apologetic even though there's nothing he could've done to prevent it. "Agent Barton and Agent Coulson are already in the conference room. Sir and Captain Rogers are on their way."

"Thanks, Jarvis," Bruce says, taking the opportunity to hug his now-agitated girlfriend.

She relaxes a little against him, hugging back before they arrive at the right floor and she has to let go. They join Clint and Coulson in the conference room and Natasha drags Clint to one side as Bruce takes a seat at the table. Coulson is on the phone, listening to whoever’s on the other end.

"Phil's talking to Maria," Clint tells her. "It sucks that this is happening."

"I don't want to do this now," Natasha says bluntly. "I'm not in the right frame of mind to go out and fight HYDRA. Neither are you, neither is Steve. And going without Thor is ridiculous. The scepter belongs to Asgard, he needs to be there."

"I agree with everything you're saying," Clint says, calm in the face of his partner's irritation. "Maybe Maria and Phil can convince Fury to give us more time to prepare."

“They’d better,” Natasha grumbles, crossing her arms, feeling mutinous.

Clint pats her arm and offers her his best reassuring look, hoping Steve and Tony arrive soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone in this chapter seemed to end up in bed and/or wrapped up in blankets, heh. I think I was on day six of my six day work/uni stretch when I wrote this and clearly dreaming of a lie-in!


	4. Chapter 4

"Sir, I have assembled the footage from the evening you requested and it is now ready for viewing. How would you like me to proceed?"

Tony groans as he pulls away from Steve, lips swollen and hair in disarray. He loves Jarvis, Jarvis is one of the best parts of who he is, but he would happily dissemble him _this second_ if it meant turning back time to before Jarvis interrupted them.

"Just put it on the screen, J," he says, resigned to the moment being over. Steve's attention has been refocused and there's little he can do about it.

"Jarvis, can you narrow it down to just the bit we need?" Steve asks, unsure if this is Jarvis' job or theirs. "When Tony was on the balcony?"

"Of course, Captain. That is the footage sent to the screen for your perusal. I will admit it seems most unusual."

He and Tony crowd round the screen, and they're both nervous as they hit play. They watch as Tony steps out onto the balcony alone — Tony has always maintained he stepped out to take a break — and it's just him, until the screen seems to shimmer.

For a moment they can see Steve, but then the screen shimmers again and the Tony on the screen is dressed differently. He doesn't seem to notice anything amiss, sipping his scotch as he stares out over the skyline.

A few minutes pass and the screen seems to shimmer again, another flash of Steve-and-Tony, before it's just Tony, the original Tony, standing there looking utterly heartbroken and confused.

Steve can't help himself, he pulls Tony into the tightest hug he dares without employing his super-strength. Tony clings back just as tightly, the memory suddenly fresh in his mind. He realises he doesn't remember Steve leaving, had always just assumed he'd gone while he was lost in a haze of pain and regret, and watching the shimmering madness on the screen, he's no clearer.

"Jarvis," he says, raising his head from Steve's shoulder, brushing a tear-stained kiss across his cheek as he does. "Can you find any footage of Steve timestamped the same as mine from the same evening?"

"Sending it to your monitor now, Sir," Jarvis says promptly, and footage starts playing of Steve in a conversation with Natasha and Clint.

The time stamp is the same as when Steve is apparently shimmering in and out of existence on the balcony, but he's watching himself with Nat and Clint and it matches the memory he has of the moment.

"Not gonna lie," Tony says. "I'm a pretty smart guy but I'm a bit confused."

"There's magic involved here somehow," Steve says, certain he's right. "What else could it be? It was just you, then me and you, then a different you, then me and you, then just you. That has to be magic. Maybe Thor can help us figure it out?"

"Thor won't be back until the end of the week," Tony points out. "Maybe we should call him."

"What— now you're suddenly in a rush to figure out what happened?" Steve asks, incredulous.

"I always wanted to figure it out," Tony argues. "I _helped_ figure it out."

"All you did was show up!" Steve snaps. "I thought about asking Pepper, she provided the date, and Jarvis provided the footage!"

Tony opens his mouth, undoubtedly to push his point, then snaps it closed, looking vaguely horrified.

"Are we already having a fight?" he asks quietly, tenser than Steve ever wants to see him.

"No," he says instinctively, reaching out to draw Tony closer, his irritation at the whole thing dropping when he sees the look on Tony's face. "No, we're not having a fight."

Tony lets himself be captured, shifting position as he winds his arms around Steve's neck.

"It feels a little bit like we're having a fight," he admits, pressing his lips to Steve's pulse point.

"But we're not, because we're smarter than that," Steve says, fingers guiding Tony's chin up so he can kiss him properly. "I know I was intense about this for a while because I hated not knowing what happened, but I'm not gonna pull Thor back early to figure it out when we don't have to. It’s not fair."

"I just don't want it hanging over us." Tony feels more anxious than he usually does. "If we can solve the mystery now, then why wait. I'm sure Thor won't mind."

"It's not hanging over us," Steve says, cuddling Tony close. "It's just a thing on our to-do list. We should probably show it to the team at some point though, in case we need their help."

Tony relaxes in increments, his trust in Steve wavering between complete and partial.

"I guess I was kinda resigned to it being just me talking to myself," Tony admits. "And now I'm justifiably _not crazy_ , I don't know what to do with that."

"Forget about it and spend time with me," Steve suggests, nuzzling his cheek. "I know you have work to do and I'm in the mood to draw."

The lure of the workshop is especially strong when they're already in it, and it doesn't take Tony long to drift towards a project.

Steve digs a pad of paper and a pencil out of the drawer in Tony's desk he commandeered a long time ago and settles in to sketch.

-

It's several hours later when Steve stretches and realises he's starving. Tony is buried in equations, muttering to himself as he moves between screens, and Steve suspects it'll take effort to pry him away from his work. He's proven wrong when Tony detects his movement from the couch to the door, turning towards him in confusion.

"Where are you going?"

"I thought you were in a work haze," Steve says, pausing. "I'm going to get something for lunch. I was going to bring you something back, but you could come with me?"

Tony contemplates his options.

"In the tower or out of it?"

"I was just gonna grab something from the kitchen," Steve admits, "I'm happy to go out if you want to, we'd just need to change."

"Don't wanna," Tony says, comfortable in his pajama pants and t-shirt. He doesn't want to have to shower and change just for food.

"Kitchen, then?" Steve says.

Tony rolls his eyes.

"We can order takeout, Steve. Someone will bring food to us. What do you want to eat? Pizza, chinese, indian? A good old-fashioned American burger?"

Now that he thinks about it, Steve could definitely go for chinese.

"We could order chinese," he says, as his stomach rumbles. "I'm kind of starving," he admits.

"After what you ate this morning?!"

Tony's not sure he believes it but he picks up his phone and loads an app, handing it to Steve.

"Just pick whatever you want," he says, with a wave of his hand. "Anything we don't eat the others will."

Steve selects a few items and then hands the phone back to Tony, who selects half a dozen more before tapping at the screen and then setting the phone aside.

"Twenty minutes," Tony says. "I'll go and get it when it arrives." He stands up from his work bench, stretching towards the ceiling.

"C'mere for a while then," Steve says, holding out a hand to Tony. He's never going to get bored of Tony's company.

"J, let me know when the food gets here," Tony says, losing himself happily in Steve's arms.

Jarvis' quiet, "Will do, Sir," is ignored by the occupants of the room.

-

The food is excellent and satisfies even Steve's appetite. He sits back when he decides he can't eat another bite, lulled into a food coma. It doesn't happen often so he kind of enjoys it when it does. His metabolism burns food almost as fast as he consumes it.

Tony, on the other side of the couch, has eaten less but seems content. Steve makes a mental note to take the leftovers upstairs for their teammates.

It's a peaceful bubble they've created for themselves in the workshop and Steve's loathe to leave it.

He usually spars with Natasha on Wednesdays but she made no mention of it at breakfast. He suspects she's spending the day with Bruce and might not want to be interrupted. He can understand that, he thinks, looking fondly at his own genius.

"What are you looking at?" Tony asks, without actually looking at Steve.

"Just you," Steve says, at peace with the world. "That a problem?"

Tony's smile is almost shy as he shakes his head.

Steve's just about to lean over and kiss him when both their phones start beeping.

"It's SHIELD," Tony says, picking up his first, momentarily surprised. "Hill says we're needed to take out a HYDRA base in Canada."

Despite the occasional mission for Steve, Clint and Natasha, things have been calm the last few months and they've gotten used to not having to save the world. Hill's interruption is an unwelcome one.

It takes Steve a moment to snap into Captain-mode, but then he's pushing himself up from the couch with a groan.

"I'm gonna assume we're not the only ones who got Hill's message," he says to Tony. "Jarvis, can you tell everyone to assemble in the conference room. We'll call Hill and get more information."

"Of course, Captain."

"So SHIELD snap their fingers and we're supposed to be at their beck and call?" Tony sounds almost whiny as he crosses his arms and slouches deeper into the couch. "Why does it have to be now?"

"I know," Steve soothes, sighing as he offers Tony a hand to pull him to his feet. "Let's go and find out what's going on and we can figure out a plan from there."

He packs up the remains of their lunch to take with them, hoping food will help mollify the others. Tony grumbles extensively but follows Steve to the elevator that Jarvis has waiting for them.

When they step into the conference room, everyone else is already there. Coulson is on the phone with Maria, and Bruce, who's sitting at the table, looks as if he's on a quest for inner peace.

Clint and Natasha are arguing quietly between themselves, looking irritated and murderous, respectively.

Natasha spins to face him as soon as she realises he's there.

"You need to tell Hill that this can wait," she says without preamble. "At least until Thor comes back. It doesn't need to be done right now."

Natasha has never pushed back on a mission before but she doesn't want to take this one, at least not today. Steve gets it, he wants to protect their downtime too, but he also understands that they might not have a choice.

"Until someone explains exactly what I'm supposed to be doing," Steve says firmly, "I'm not telling anyone anything."

Coulson holds up a hand, silently asking him to wait, and then says into his phone, "Maria, I'm going to call you back. Let me talk to them first."

They say their goodbyes and Coulson hangs up, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

"We think we've located Loki's scepter," He says. "In a HYDRA base in northern Canada. Fury wants to send you all in to retrieve it."

"If we're going after the scepter, we need to tell Thor," Bruce points out. "He'll want to be involved. He's the one who wants to find it the most."

This is the first sign of the scepter and they all know how much its absence has concerned the Asgardian over the last few months.

"Can't it wait until he gets back?" Bruce continues. "He won't be long and he's with Jane."

"That was my suggestion," Coulson nods. "I highly doubt much will change over the next few days. When exactly is he due back?"

"Point Break's rarely exact," Tony says, shrugging. "But he said two weeks and that's this weekend. I remember thinking he'd be back around the same time as Pepper arrived."

"Pepper's coming to visit?"

Coulson looks almost nervous, and Steve suddenly remembers his conversation with Clint and Natasha. Pepper still thinks Coulson's dating Audrey, the cellist who's really his cousin.

Tony smirks as he realises the same thing.

"She is," he says cheerfully. "You can introduce her to your boyfriend."

"You know, Stark, you could just tell her before she gets here."

"But there's no fun in that," Tony points out. "I mean, for me."

Coulson looks at him, exasperated.

"Is that food?" Clint asks, changing the subject with ruthless determination.

Steve nods as he sets the leftover chinese on the table and motions for Clint to help himself. Bruce reaches for the vegetable teriyaki before Clint can, rescuing a sweet and sour chicken for Natasha.

"If Hill can send us the full briefing, we'll head out when Thor gets back," Steve says. "It gives us some time to prepare."

This is, after all, their job. Technically it's not Tony or Bruce's, but Steve knows Tony won't let himself be left behind and Bruce will follow where Natasha leads.

"Maybe _after_ Pepper leaves?" Natasha adds, because Pepper has reached a level of peace with the Avengers activities over time, but it might not extend to this.

Tony nods.

"Yeah, after would be better. She gets here Sunday afternoon and leaves on Wednesday."

"That gives Thor the opportunity to still lose track of time and be back before we have to leave," Clint adds.

Thor's inability to keep track of time is widely mocked, in a good-natured kind of way. Thor claims it's because he's used to Asgardian time, frequently turning up days after he's supposed to.

"I'm sure I can make that work," Coulson agrees. "I'll call Hill back and get her to send over the brief and I'll talk to Fury about the timing."

Fury can't really _make_ the Avengers do anything. He can ask and they'll usually oblige, or he can try and trick them into it, but he can't flat-out order anyone except for Steve, Clint and Natasha.

(Only: Tony won't risk Steve being hurt so he'll go, and Bruce feels the same about Natasha. Thor will want to go because it’s the scepter, so Fury gets them all by default.)

Coulson takes out his phone again and says, "I'm going to get my bag while I make this call. I'm probably going to have to go back to the office."

Clint isn't happy.

"You said you didn't have to go back until tomorrow," he points out, scowling at his boyfriend.

"That was before we potentially located the scepter." Coulson doesn't look happy about it either but he and Clint both know what this job is. "I can keep you out of it for a few days but I'm expected to show up. Fury will officially recall me if I don't go willingly, and there's no point in pissing him off before we have to."

"I think you just want to avoid Pepper," Tony says accusingly. "I didn't take you for a wuss, Agent."

Coulson takes a deep breath and reminds himself he's dealt with far more difficult people than Tony Stark many times before.

"Some of us aren't our own boss, Tony," Coulson says patiently. "And whether I go back tonight or tomorrow night, it would _still_ be before Pepper arrived."

Tony can't refute that logic.

"I'm still not telling her for you," Tony says, stubborn to the end. "You can tell her next time."

Coulson's pretty sure the odds of him and Pepper being in the same place at the same time are small, but he's smart enough not to tempt fate by saying so.

"Sounds fair," he says, brushing it aside. "I'm going to call the office. I'll let you know what happens."

Clint takes one of the chinese containers with him and follows Coulson out of the room, their quiet voices fading away with their footsteps.

Natasha sighs and looks at Steve, her expression rueful as she glances to Bruce and back to him.

"Not gonna lie, I've been really enjoying this quiet spell," she confesses. "I don't want to go out and fight HYDRA goons. Well," she amends, because she does enjoy kicking the crap out of their enemies, "I don't want to fight them right _now_."

"I know," Steve says, and he does.

Natasha wants to stay in the tower as much as he does, learning how to have a real, actual _life_ that doesn't involve SHIELD. Steve wants nothing more than to lock himself away with Tony and pretend SHIELD is just a bad dream, at least for a little while longer.

"Let's hope Coulson's able to talk some sense into Fury," Tony says. "I mean, we could just refuse to go."

"We're employed by SHIELD, Tony," Steve reminds his boyfriend. "Natasha and I have to go where we're ordered. Same for Clint."

"If you're going, I'm going," Tony says, predictable to the nth.

"Me too," Bruce says, speaking up from his seat at the table. "Just in case."

Natasha wanders over to him, hopping up to sit on the table beside his chair, stealing a forkful of his food before she digs into her own. She wants Bruce there and doesn't at the same time.

A Code Green takes a lot out of him, mentally, physically and emotionally, and Natasha doesn't like to see him hurting. But there's no denying that having the Other Guy on their team often turns the tide. She feels better in a fight when she knows he’s got her back.

"Did you guys find the footage from the party?" Natasha asks, nudging Bruce with her foot so he looks up at her and smiles.

"We did," Steve confirms. "And something weird definitely happened. We need to talk to Thor when he gets back, he's more familiar with magic than we are and it kind of looks like that's what this was."

Natasha and Bruce are both intrigued.

"We can show you later," Steve says. "It's probably a good idea for you all to see it in case we need your help."

Tony nods in agreement but Steve feels like something's not quite right. He suspects that Tony doesn't want to show them the end of the moment on the balcony. He's not good with his own vulnerability.

"We'll watch it when Thor's back," Tony says, more or less confirming Steve’s suspicion. "So we only have to watch it once. Jarvis is analysing it for anything Steve and I might have missed or not be able to see."

That’s something Steve hadn’t known, but it makes sense.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Bruce asks.

Tony shakes his head.

"I was there, then I wasn't, then I was," he says, glossing over the details. "And Steve was inside and on the balcony at the same time, kind of. It's weird."

"But you're okay?" Bruce presses.

"I'm okay," Tony says, smiling at Bruce's concern. "I think Steve's right. Whatever it was, Thor's the one who'll be able to help us figure it out."

"Do you want to call him back?" Natasha asks. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Not for the two of you."

Steve wonders why it is that they're so desperately protecting their own time together, but not respecting Thor's. He gets that the suggestion is meant to help but it doesn't.

"He's spending time with Jane," Tony points out. "He doesn't get to see her that often. It's not urgent enough to call him back, it can wait."

Natasha's smart enough not to argue with him and if she'd tried, he knows Bruce would've found a way to distract her.

Instead Bruce changes the subject to one of the projects he and Tony have been working on together, and the mystery of Tony and Steve's memories is set aside.


	5. Chapter 5

Pepper arrives on Sunday afternoon.

Happy drops her off at the tower, where she's staying despite her protests that she can stay at a hotel. Tony had insisted she take one of the guest floors at the tower instead and she'd agreed. It's only now that Steve's considering how strange that might be for her.

Last time she stayed here she and Tony were still together, both living in the penthouse.

Now everything's changed.

Pepper-in-person is warm and friendly, hugging Tony as soon as she steps inside the building. Natasha and Clint have been forced into a meeting with Fury in preparation for the mission at the end of the week, but for some reason Steve's off the hook.

He suspects it's Fury's own version of payback for his refusal to jump at the snap of Fury's fingers, cutting him out of the planning stages despite him being the team leader. He isn’t concerned. He trusts Natasha and Clint will fill him in on anything important.

It also leaves Steve to meet Pepper alone but that joke's on Fury because Steve's actually been looking forward to getting to know her.

Pepper approaches him with a smile and offers him a hug that he accepts, albeit a little awkwardly.

"It's so good to finally meet you properly," Pepper says, blue eyes twinkling at him.

He can see why Tony was attracted to her. She's beautiful, yes, but she also radiates confidence and competence, qualities Steve knows will draw Tony like a moth to a flame.

"It's good to meet you too," he says, smiling at her. "How was your flight?"

He thought he'd be more nervous but Pepper seems to be aware this could be awkward for them and is doing her best to mediate that. He recalls Tony calling her magical and right now he's tempted to agree.

"Same as ever," she says, offering him a wry smile and a shrug as they all step into the elevator. "When you fly back and forth as often as I do, it becomes incredibly boring. I worked, I made some calls. The usual."

"Welcome back, Pepper," Jarvis says, sounding somehow pleased by her presence.

"Thanks, Jarvis," Pepper says, comfortable with the AI, as anyone who's spent a significant amount of time in the tower tends to be.

Steve notices that Jarvis calls her by first name, where he still addresses all the Avengers by their full names or titles. He wonders why that is, and makes a mental note to ask Tony later.

"After you've settled in, I figured we'll prise Bruce out of his lab and we can all catch up," Tony says.

"He works too hard," Pepper sighs fondly. "But then, look who he has for a partner in crime." Steve laughs as Tony affects an overly innocent 'Who, me?' expression.

"He's been working less recently," Steve assures her. "Natasha makes sure of that."

"If anyone can, it's her. How have things been here?"

"Things are good, Pep," Tony says. "We've got an Avengers thing at the end of the week, but otherwise it's been quiet."

This is the part of Tony-and-Pepper that Steve struggles with. The way he tells her things so casually, as if _not_ telling her hasn't even occurred to him.

Pepper immediately looks concerned, but Tony waves a hand and generalises it down to, "They just need us to go and fetch something. It's boring. But it's for Thor, so."

Tony's somehow managed to make what could be a dangerous mission sound like something routine, and Steve belatedly realises how much Tony actually probably doesn't tell Pepper.

"Just be careful," Pepper says, and there's a bond between them still that Steve's seeing ever more clearly. It's in the pleading and demanding look in her eyes and in Tony's immediate need to reassure.

It doesn't worry him the way he'd thought it would; doesn't feel like a threat to his relationship. It's the bond of a years-long friendship that was briefly something more.

"Don't do anything stupid," Pepper continues, her gaze turning fierce. "Don't run with some half-cocked impulsive idea of your own. Listen to your team.” As if suddenly remembering that Steve's both the team leader and his boyfriend, she adds, "Listen to _Steve_."

"Yes," Steve agrees, "Listen to Steve."

"Hey!" Tony protests. "No ganging up on me."

"We have to gang up on you," Pepper says, patting his arm sympathetically. "You're a genius, but you're also an idiot."

"I take offence at that," Tony says, as they step out onto one of the guest floors.

"The truth hurts," Pepper says, exchanging an amused look with Steve. "I'm going to unpack and get changed and then I'll come and find you."

"We'll be in the common room," Tony says. "I think Katniss and Itsy Bitsy said they'd be back in about an hour."

"It'll be nice to see Natasha."

Pepper means it but there's a still a part of the _sorry, I've actually been here to spy on you_ thing that sticks at the back of her mind, no matter what she does.

"And to meet Clint," she adds. "No Thor?"

"He's been away," Tony tells her. "He's due back though, it should be while you're here. See you upstairs?"

"Give me half an hour," she says with a nod. "I'll meet you there."

-

"You like her, right?" Tony asks, once they're safely ensconced on the couch in the common room twenty minutes later. "I mean, you two seemed to get along just fine when you were teasing me."

There's concern there for Steve's opinion, but also a dash of hurt that Steve hadn't seen before.

"I would never side with Pepper over you," Steve tells him firmly, cutting to the heart of it. "Unless it's about your health, since I suspect her views on your sleeping patterns match mine."

Tony quirks a smile but turns serious soon enough.

"You promise?" he asks quietly. "You're the one person who's supposed to always be on my side."

Steve pulls him into a hug, feeling Tony's heart race as he hugs back tightly. This bothers him more than he's saying, for reasons Steve doesn't fully understand.

"I promise," Steve says, pressing a kiss to his temple. "Even when I'm teasing you, I'm always on your side. You're the most important person in my world, Tony. You were even before we started dating."

Tony holds on silently while Steve wonders who hurt him badly enough to make him wary of trusting Steve to be there when he needs him. He can't see it being Pepper but someone's responsible.

Steve doesn't want Tony to doubt him.

He lies down, pulling at Tony gently to encourage him to join him, wrapping them both in the blanket hanging over the back of the couch. Tony cuddles impossibly close and Steve lets him hide in his arms.

"I do trust you," Tony says, so quietly Steve almost misses it. "Even when it doesn't seem like it."

"I love you," Steve whispers in his ear. "If you believe in nothing else, believe in that."

He cards his fingers through Tony's hair as they lie together. Tony is nearly asleep by the time Pepper enters the room, smiling as she sees them, pausing to check it's still okay if she joins them.

Steve motions her forward and she pads silently over to a chair, curling up. She's changed into cut-off shorts and an oversized sweatshirt, hair falling loose about her shoulders, and she's almost unrecognisable to Steve, who's only used to her public persona.

"Pep?" Tony asks, as if aware that she's there. He doesn't move from where he is, but he relaxes when she says, "Hey, Tony."

"Don't pick a fight with Steve while I'm sleeping," he says, yawning. "You have to get along."

"We do get along, Tony," Pepper says patiently. "We're fine, go to sleep."

She wants to say, _Have a nap, don't worry about us_ , but Tony is particularly sensitive to some phrases, and 'have a nap' is one of them. She learnt that the hard way.

"Wake me when the others get back," Tony says, but it's blurred and indistinct as he loses the battle with sleep.

"Technically he fell asleep before we could promise," Pepper says, her smile to Steve mischievous. "Although we should probably do as he asked and retrieve Bruce while we're at it."

"Natasha's gonna do that for us when she gets back," Steve says, the knowledge true from experience. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Pepper says.

"It's silly," Steve says, feeling self-conscious. It occurs to him he could've just asked Jarvis himself. "How come Jarvis calls you Pepper instead of 'Miss Potts'? He always calls us by our full names or our titles."

Pepper clearly seems to have been expecting a different question because she's thrown for a split second.

"I guess 'cause I asked him to?" she says, after thinking about it. "He said 'Miss Potts' one time too many, I said 'Just call me Pepper, Jarvis' and now he does."

Huh. Steve hadn't thought it would be that easy.

"Jarvis?" he asks. "Can you call me Steve instead of Captain?"

"Of course," Jarvis replies obligingly. "Whichever you prefer."

"Thanks." He looks at Pepper. "It never even occurred to me that it would be something that simple," he admits.

Pepper nods, understanding. Tony thinks of Jarvis as a person or as an extension of himself, depending on his mood, but it can be hard for others to view him the same way. Tony used to call on Jarvis to intervene whenever they fought, which frustrated Pepper to the ends of the earth. She'd always felt a bit idiotic yelling at her then-boyfriend's AI for sticking his non-existent nose into their business.

"Agents Romanov and Barton have returned from SHIELD," Jarvis says. "Shall I inform them of your location?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks Jarvis," Steve says. "Let them know Pepper's here."

It's partially a warning. He doesn't want them to come in ranting and raving about the meeting with Fury if it went badly. Tony keeps the details away from Pepper for a reason and Steve respects that.

"I shall, Steve."

"Clint'll probably be here before Natasha," Steve says to Pepper. "She'll go and get Bruce on the way."

He runs his fingers across Tony's cheek, calling his name softly until Tony's stirring with a sleepy grumble. Tony is always tired when he lets himself be.

"Hey, Clint and Natasha just got back," he says softly. "You don't have to wake up, but I wanted you to know."

"I'm awake," Tony mutters into Steve's shoulder. "Honest, I am."

Pepper laughs and Tony mumbles something uncomplimentary in her direction, too low for her to really hear. She merely rolls her eyes.

The elevator stops on the common room floor and a few moments later, Clint appears. He doesn't look particularly annoyed to Steve, which indicates the meeting with Fury went well, but then Clint has a master pokerface so it's never a guarantee.

"Hey," he says to the room at large, smiling at Pepper in welcome. "Miss Potts, nice to meet you."

"Call me Pepper, everyone does," Pepper says, and Steve wonders if she ever gets bored of saying it. "I hope your meeting went well."

She doesn't actually ask about it, presenting it as more of a pleasant statement. Clint nods and says, "It went fine, thanks. Natasha'll be along in a couple minutes, she's gone to collect our favourite physicist from his lair."

"It's a lab, not a lair," Tony says, eyeing Clint with a sleepy glare. "Villains have lairs, scientists and engineers have _labs_."

"I'm pretty sure villains also have laboratories," Clint points out, taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

"Well, sure, if you say the whole thing it sounds kind of evil," Tony admits, "But there's nothing villainous about saying 'Bruce is working in his lab'. It sounds sciencey!"

"What sounds sciencey?" Bruce asks, as he and Natasha join them. "Not that 'sciencey' is actually a word."

"Saying you're working in your lab," Tony says promptly. "Clint called it your lair, and I was pointing out only villains have lairs."

"We agreed that laboratory sounds villainous though," Clint says, "So I'm sticking with it being a grey area. Nat? Thoughts?"

Natasha ignores him in favour of hugging Pepper, who stood up when they came into the room. Pepper hugs her back and then turns to Bruce, favouring him with the one of the warm smiles she usually only gives Tony when he's done something particularly good.

"Bruce, it's so good to see you again," Pepper says, hugging him for a long moment before she lets him go. Bruce, often fussy about his personal space, has no problem lingering in her arms.

Natasha feels a twist of jealousy even though she knows Bruce has no interest in Pepper that way, fighting it back because she recognises that she’s being irrational.

"It's good to see you too, Pepper," he says, smiling warmly at his friend. "How have you been?"

"I've been okay," Pepper says, shrugging her shoulders. "Work, work, and more work. Nothing new there."

"And you always tell me that I work too hard," Bruce says in disapproval. "You need to take your own advice."

"Right now, there's just no time," Pepper says. "But it's all going to calm down in another month or two."

"Take a vacation," Bruce advises.

Pepper laughs, but it's wistful. "Imagine," she says.

"You want to go on vacation, Pep?" Tony cuts in. "I'll send you on vacation, just tell me where you want to go and when and I’ll make it happen."

"Tony, I don't have time right now," she says in mild exasperation. "You remember all those deals we're brokering at SI, right? We've talked about them. I can't just up and leave."

"I could help out," Tony says, looking put out. "I did used to run the company before I gave it to you."

"I know you could," Pepper says, gentling her tone. They joke about it and, sure, Tony had a little help with the day-to-day, but Tony did successfully run SI before she did. "I wouldn't be able to relax, Tony. It's better for me to do this first and then take a break once it's over."

"If you're sure," Tony says, regretfully sitting up to make space for everyone else to sit down. Steve stretches out down the L of the couch and Tony leans against his shoulder.

Pepper reclaims her armchair and Clint moves to the other one, leaving Bruce and Natasha together on the other half of the couch.

"Do we want to go out to eat?" Tony asks. "Special occasion since Pep's here. Or should we just get something delivered?"

"One of us can cook, Tony," Steve points out, although he knows it'll most likely be him and he wouldn't mind a night off.

"Not tonight," Tony shakes his head. "Then someone gets stuck in the kitchen while the rest of us are out here having fun."

"I could go for pizza," Clint says. "Or maybe pasta."

Tony gets up off the couch to collect his Starkpad from the table, tossing it at Clint, trusting he'll catch it.

"Have a browse," he suggests. "Pep, you want a glass of wine?"

"Sounds good to me," she nods and Tony pads off to retrieve a bottle of red from the kitchen.

"Anyone else?" he asks, setting out wine glasses.

Natasha accepts but Bruce passes. Clint goes in search of beer for him and Steve, pulling out an iced tea for Bruce before he heads back to the common room. Bruce thanks him when he hands it over.

"Is there any place you'd prefer?" Clint asks Pepper, picking up the Starkpad again. "You're the guest, it seems right that you choose."

Pepper shakes her head. "Anywhere's fine. Italian would be good though, I could go for pasta."

Bruce and Tony both suggest a couple of places, with Natasha vetoing one of them immediately. Clint votes for the only one that he recognises, and Pepper thirds it.

"I remember the food from there being good," she says, looking at Bruce. "We had lunch there once, I think?"

"Yeah, not long before you moved back to California," Bruce says. "Tony, you've eaten there too, you like their pizza."

"The place with the barbecue chicken?" Tony checks, then gives it a thumbs up when Bruce nods. "I do like that place."

"Someone show me a menu," Natasha says, trying not to think about Bruce and Pepper having a cosy little lunch together.

She's not sure why her emotions are all over the place. She thinks it's just that she's spent the last week riding all the emotional highs and these are the lows to balance them out. Her relationship with Bruce has her feeling too many things at once.

Beside her, Bruce senses her tension and leans forward to wrap his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek.

"Everything okay," he asks, barely breathing the question into her ear to avoid being overheard.

She nods even though she's not really sure, turning her head to kiss him, fierce but brief. He belongs to her, no-one's coming between them.

He keeps his arms around her as she skims through the menu, resting his chin on her shoulder as he points out one or two dishes he thinks she'll like.

She eventually selects a seafood linguine and a side dish, handing the Starkpad to Bruce, who adds a spicy vegetable pizza to the list, along with some fries, before passing it to Pepper. When everyone else is done, Steve and Tony add half the remaining menu to the list, which has Pepper shaking her head in disbelief. Tony sends the order on it's way, adding a generous tip when he pays.

He's fond of this restaurant.

He's just setting the pad back on the table when there's a crack of thunder loud enough to vibrate the tower, accompanied by a flash of lightning that leaves dark spots dancing on their retinas. Pepper jumps, unused to Thor's comings and goings.

Steve says, "It's okay, Pepper. It's just Thor. His arrivals tend to be a bit dramatic."

"Point Break's pretty much on time," Tony says, impressed, rubbing at his eyes to clear his vision. "I wasn't expecting him till maybe Monday or Tuesday."

"He must have sensed we were ordering food," Clint says wryly. "We're gonna need to make some additions to our order."

"Tony and I ordered enough to cover Thor as well," Steve says. "There just won't be leftovers."

"J, can you tell Thor we're in the common room?" Tony asks.

"Already done, Sir," Jarvis says. "He would like me to inform you that he's on his way."

It doesn't take Thor long to join them, dressed in his full Asgardian regalia, Mjölnir held firm in one hand. He sets it down and strides towards Pepper with a hand extended, shaking hers enthusiastically.

"It's nice to meet you, Pepper," Thor says. "May I call you Pepper? Or would you prefer I call you Miss Potts?"

"Pepper's fine," she says, smiling kindly at Thor. "It's nice to meet you too, Thor. How was your trip?"

"It was most rewarding," Thor beams. "Asgard remains safe and my Lady Jane was pleased to see me. Her research takes her to a far off place this next week, so it was a good time to stop by."

"Where's she going?" Bruce asks, from his position on the couch, still wrapped around Natasha.

"I believe it is a city named Rwanda," Thor says. "In the place you call Africa." Bruce nods. Natasha can't remember if it's one of the places he's been to.

"You should invite her to visit," Steve says. "When she gets back and has some free time, I mean. If she wants to."

"I'm sure she would enjoy spending some time here," Thor says. "This is a fine city to visit. We could perhaps go out and be tourists for a day... undercover as regular Midgardians."

"Absolutely," Steve agrees, thinking that Thor is as likely to master the art of going incognito as he is to learn how to fly.

"We've ordered dinner," Tony says. "We ordered a lot so there'll be enough for you too. Find a seat and settle down, it shouldn't be too much longer."

Thor stretches out on the floor, propping his head on his hand and draping his cape over himself. He always chooses the most uncomfortable looking spots, Tony thinks, although he seems perfectly happy.

"A lot has happened while I've been away," Thor says, regarding Tony and Steve, then Natasha and Bruce, with an almost paternal pride. "I am pleased for you, my friends."

"We do have a lot to catch you up on," Clint agrees.

Jarvis chimes, announcing that the delivery driver is approaching, and Tony reluctantly climbs to his feet, Steve following behind him to help carry it all.

"Let me get the food," Tony says. "Then we'll catch up."


	6. Chapter 6

Tony instructs Jarvis to let the delivery driver into his private elevator, while he and Steve take a different one up to the penthouse to meet him. There's more food than Steve expected, a feeling he's beginning to get used to whenever he orders a meal with Tony.

He loads his arms with bags as Tony tips the driver and sends him on his way, before picking up the pizzas Steve left for him to carry.

"You ever think maybe you go overboard," Steve asks, amused, as they step back into the elevator that'll take them back to the others. "This is a lot of food, Tony. Even accounting for Thor, who you didn't know would be here."

"You _eat_ a lot of food, Steve," Tony points out. "Can't have my favourite super-soldier starving."

Steve looks at him fondly as they exit the elevator to cheers from the others. They set the food down, noting that someone has retrieved plates, cutlery and napkins from the kitchen in their absence, and hand out containers.

"Anyone want another drink before I sit down?" Tony asks, topping up his glass of wine. Pepper and Natasha both hold theirs out for a refill and he obliges.

"So," Thor says, once they're all eating. "The very night I leave the two of you finally — what's that phrase? — get your acts together?"

"It wasn't because you weren't here," Tony says, rolling his eyes. "That's just the way it worked out."

"Luckily, friend Clint sent photographs to the communications device you gave me," Thor says. "They were adorable."

"I still need to see those," Pepper says. "Someone share."

"I'll show you," Clint offers immediately. "I have them all saved."

Pepper smiles at him in thanks.

"Actually, Thor. We could use your help," Steve says quietly. "We've got a bit of a problem and it looks like magic. You're the only one who might be able to explain it."

Thor looks intrigued but concerned.

"Are you hurt?" he asks, looking them over carefully, as if he's been missing something since he came back. "You don't look as if you are, but I know Midgardians can be fragile."

Most of the Midgardians in the room object to that generalisation.

Steve wants to but he figures he sort of doesn't count.

"No, we're not hurt," Steve says patiently. "We have memories that don't match and security camera footage that backs us both up. It's a little strange."

"Show it to me," Thor suggests, waving towards the television. "If I can help, of course I will."

Everyone else is equally curious, but Steve looks to Tony for the only opinion that matters to him right now. Tony has stopped eating and put on a smile. It's one of the stiff fake smiles that Steve hates.

"Might as well get it over with," he says, forcing lightness. "J, can you put the footage from the balcony on the main television?"

The lights dim a little as Jarvis starts the playback. They all watch in silence as Tony walks out onto the balcony with a glass of wine in his hand. He looks exhausted but vaguely wired, hyped up on coffee but blunted by booze.

The screen shimmers and they see Steve, his hair half a shade darker than it looks today, looking at him with quiet compassion. The screen shimmers again and the Tony left alone on the balcony is differently dressed, scotch in hand.

Thor curses as he watches, his food momentarily forgotten.

"That's portal magic," he says, darkly. "Someone found a universe with a timeline parallel enough to this one, but with one important difference, then switched our Tony and the other Tony for those few minutes."

"I don't understand," Pepper says slowly. "What do you mean by 'portal magic'? And another universe?"

"Well," Thor says. "There are many universes. This theory is widely held, even amongst some of your scientists here on Midgard. Every time you make a decision, each time you choose a path, the path you didn't take becomes an alternative reality that splits off from your own, with an alternate you living an alternate life. Sometimes those universes are wildly different, but sometimes they comprise such minor differences that, without knowing you were in one, you would never notice."

"So someone found another universe where Tony was out on the balcony but I was there too?" Steve asked, finding this all a bit hard to swallow. "And then found a way to switch them over for a conversation they somehow knew would happen?"

"Indeed," Thor says. "It would have to be a universe with a roughly similar timeline to our own. They do exist. As do people who are capable of sensing them and sometimes pulling between them."

"It would have to be similar enough that it wouldn't seem strange to Tony once he was back."

"After our Tony had the conversation with you intended for the other," Thor nods at Steve, gesturing at the screen. "He was supposed to believe it was you. Had the other you been too different, he would've noticed."

Jarvis had paused the playback when they started talking, so they're looking at a frozen image of the other Tony. It's easier to find differences between them now that they're all looking. The most important one being—

"The other me doesn't have an arc reactor," Tony says, his eyes fixed on the man on the screen. "You could faintly see the glow of mine through my shirt before when I moved, but he doesn't have it."

The other Tony's hair is slightly shorter, and they can see a faint scar on the back of the hand holding his glass.

"But why would someone do this?" Pepper asks. "Who stands to benefit from Tony and Steve being miserable?"

"Not miserable," Natasha realises. " _Alone_. It was someone who wanted to keep them apart. And it worked. Maybe they were hoping to make you, and therefore all of us, less of a team."

Thor looks troubled.

"Loki has several associates capable of this kind of magic," he admits, "And undoubtedly knows others I do not. It's possible that he set this up last time he was here. Or even since then. He is contained but his influence can be far-reaching."

"Could it have caused them harm in any other way?" Bruce asks.

"I do not believe so," Thor says. "Tony was only pulled to the other universe for a few minutes. He should be fine."

"Thor," Tony sighs, letting his head drop against Steve's shoulder. "I really, _really_ hate your brother."

"He's adopted," Thor mutters, instinctively.

"I don't care," Tony says. "I hate him."

"It might have been someone else," Natasha points out.

"It's not likely though, is it?" Clint says, his voice tight the way it always is when he's reminded of Loki and the mind control he went through. "Loki's an asshole, he loves messing with us."

"Since he seemingly knows people with the capabilities, it's possible," Bruce says calmly, picking up another slice of his pizza. "We may never be sure. At least you know what happened and that you're not crazy."

The others slowly resume eating and Tony tells Jarvis to switch off the footage. There's no need for them to watch it until the end, it's the same thing again.

Clint is quiet, lost in his thoughts until Natasha murmurs something in Russian that brings his gaze to hers. He nods slowly and takes an unenthusiastic bite of his food. She wishes Coulson was still here.

Clint's struggled to shake off the repercussions of Loki's mind control, all too aware that it pitted him against his loved ones. He could've killed someone precious to him, someone like _Phil_ , and he can't let that go.

It's easier when Phil's with him, but he's back on the helicarrier.

"We have a mission at the end of the week," Tony says absently to Thor, stealing a handful of Steve's fries. "So don't plan on taking another trip before then, okay?"

"Of course," Thor says. "What is this mission, might I ask?"

"You can, but not right now," Tony says dismissively. "We've got a meeting about it later in the week, it can wait. But we'll need you, so don't go anywhere."

"I thought you said the thing you had to fetch was _for_ Thor," Pepper asks suspiciously. "Surely he'd already know what it is."

"We're fetching something for me?" Thor asks, before his eyes brighten in realisation. "The scepter! Has Fury located it?"

"He thinks so," Tony says reluctantly, cursing himself for bringing it up. He hadn't meant to. "In Canada. We're gonna go out there and take a look."

"Why delay until the end of the week?" Thor demands. "We should go immediately. Retrieving the scepter is of utmost importance. It must be contained somewhere safe."

"Because we wanted to delay," Natasha says, exasperated. "We didn't want to rush off now when we could prepare properly and leave in a few days."

"And Pepper's visiting," Steve adds, smiling at Pepper. "So we figured we'd go at the end of the week, since we don't get to see her very often."

Thor settles down but he looks disgruntled. Steve makes a mental note to keep an eye on him, in case he's tempted to take off on his own.

"Thor, if it's there we'll find it," he promises. "I know you don't want to wait, but trust me, okay? We're going to do this right."

Thor nods, slowly. "Fine, but no later than the end of the week."

"Friday," Steve confirms. "We'll meet with Fury before that."

"He's set a briefing for Thursday afternoon," Natasha says. "I haven't had a chance to fill you in on the details of our meeting yet. He wants us to leave early Friday morning."

"That seems unsociable," Pepper says, setting her empty plate aside.

"Fury likes to make us miserable," Clint says with a shrug.

"I've never met him," Pepper says. "The only one I know is Agent Coulson. How is he?"

Clint freezes for an entirely different reason, eyes wide as he scrambles uncharacteristically for an answer.

"He's fine," Clint squeaks. "Came to visit the tower just a few days ago."

"I'm sorry I missed him," Pepper says, sounding genuinely disappointed, before adding, "Is he still dating the cellist? Audrey?"

"Uh," Clint says, stalling for time.

He doesn't want to lie to Pepper, but they'd agreed this would be Coulson's confession.

Tony narrows his eyes as he takes in Pepper and her too-innocent expression and then points at her, widening his eyes in disbelief.

"You already know!" he accuses. "Who told you?!"

"What?" Clint turns to him in confusion.

"She's playing with you, Clint," Tony says, smirking at Pepper. "She already knows there's no cellist. I recognise that look in her eyes!"

Pepper holds her innocent expression for another few seconds and then breaks into laughter, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

Clint just _looks_ at her.

"Phil called me yesterday," she says, by way of an explanation. "He knew I was coming here and that Tony wouldn't be able to resist telling me about you two at some point. He didn't want to put you on the spot."

"And he didn't call to tell me he'd told you!" Clint says mournfully. "Three years and he lets me get blindsided!"

"That's between you and him," Pepper laughs. "You two do seem like you make a good couple. I'm happy for you both."

"Thanks," Clint says, smiling at her. "I appreciate it."

"There appears to be great contentment amongst our group these days," Thor says, thoughtfully. "It is pleasing to see us all thrive."

"You certainly work hard enough for it," Pepper says, sipping her wine. "If any group deserves a bit of downtime, it's this one."

"To downtime!" Tony cheers, lifting his glass in a toast, listening as the entire team echoes it back to him.

Pepper's right. They've earned this.

-

Later that night, when they all go their separate ways, Steve follows Tony up to the penthouse. Tony seems to be making no moves towards the workshop, which gives Steve hope that he'll actually get to spend an entire evening sleeping next to his boyfriend this time.

They brush their teeth and change for bed, stripping down to their boxers. Tony adds a t-shirt the way he always does, claiming that the arc reactor's light is too bright without one.

Steve's not sure that's the only reason, but he doesn't push. Tony is often touchy about the arc reactor and Steve doesn't want to argue with him.

He's in bed before Tony, snuggling into the duvet as he listens to Tony moving around in the bathroom, occasionally talking to Jarvis.

Tony comes to join him, the lights dimming as he crawls into bed and into Steve's arms. He smells of fresh mint and soap, his skin still slightly damp from when he'd washed his face. Steve kisses him, lingering for a moment.

"How do you feel about what Thor said?" Steve asks. "About the other dimensions?"

"It's a theory I'm familiar with," Tony says with a sigh. "Since he's capable of making it happen, it makes sense that Loki would want to fuck with us even more than he already has. I don't know. It would explain it."

"I wonder if the other us ever realised that conversation was one-sided?" Steve says thoughtfully.

He kind of wants to know if the other him and the other Tony ever talked about it again. If they did the situation would be the other way around, Steve realises, with Tony thinking he's the crazy one for remembering something that never happened. He can't quite imagine a version of himself that doesn't love Tony and after a minute he says so.

"It's sad, the lives the other us are leading," Tony mumbles, but Steve suspects there's a lot of truth in the statement.

"I'm glad we're not them," he says fiercely. "I'm glad we're _us_."

"Me too," Tony says, meeting his eyes so Steve can see the truth written in his own. "It's weird to think about," he adds, unsettled. "That someone could turn up and sweep someone else off into another dimension. What if they'd left me there?"

Steve pulls him closer, going cold at the thought.

"We need to find a way to protect ourselves against something like this ever happening again," Steve says. "But I don't even know where to start."

"We can work with Thor over the next couple of months," Tony suggests. "Maybe he knows a magic user who can help us train to defend ourselves, or at least help us be aware of when there's magic around us. Coulson might have some suggestions too."

"I think Clint wants him to move in when SHIELD relocates to New York next month," Steve says. "He might ask you about it."

"He liked it here, didn't he?" Tony asks, confused. "When he stayed? I know he's gone back to the helicarrier because he had to, but I thought he  _was_ moving in?"

"That was just a visit," Steve says. "I said you'd think that. He might, though. I know Clint really misses him."

"We have plenty of space," Tony says, yawning. "He'll move into Katniss' floor anyway, we'll hardly notice. Tell him to get on with it."

"Actually, I'll tell him," Tony continues. "J, send a text to Agent saying, ' _Steve just informed me you haven't actually decided to move in yet. I thought you had. You should remedy that. I'm configuring your access to match Clint's in preparation, let me know when you need a key._ ' Send it."

"Tony!" Steve says in exasperation. "One of them would've come to you in their own time."

"Waiting is pointless. Jarvis, can you configure Agent's access?"

"Already processing, Sir," Jarvis says.

"Add the need for my authorisation if he tries to access the building accompanied by Fury, Hill, or any SHIELD agent other than Steve, Clint or Natasha without prior authorisation."

Tony looks at Steve and shrugs as he says, "I trust Agent. I don't trust Fury. Fury's the type to try and force Agent into giving him access when we won't do what he wants."

Steve can't deny it's a possibility.

"You have a reply from Agent Coulson, Sir," Jarvis says. "He said, ' _I was going to ask you if you'd mind me moving in when we relocate. Clint and I talked about getting a place, but I'm away a lot and he needs to be around people. I appreciate it, Tony._ '"

Clint does need to be around people. As team leader, Steve's picked up on it before. Spending time alone when he's focused on a mission is fine, but without a focus Clint gets lost in his own head and that seems to be a darker place than he'd realised.

"J, tell him it's no problem and to let me know if he needs anything," Tony says, before he turns his attention back to Steve.

"I can't believe he actually called Pepper and told her about him and Clint voluntarily," Steve says. "I had no idea she was teasing him earlier, she looked so innocent!"

"You have to watch out for Pep," Tony laughs. "She's sneaky."

"It's unsurprising to me that you appreciate that."

"Keeps you on your toes," Tony says, from personal experience. "It's not a bad thing. It's the look in her eyes that always gives it away."

"I'll remember that."

"You probably should."

Steve closes his eyes he lies there, listening to the beat of Tony's heart. It's peaceful and he's content.

"I'm worried about the mission," Tony confesses into the silence of the night, and Steve's peace is shattered.

"Why?" he asks.

"I don't think any of us are in the right frame of mind," Tony says. "I know I'm more focused on you than on Iron Man, I haven't worked on the armour all week. Natasha's definitely more focused on Bruce than anything else, her head's nowhere near in the game. And Clint's still dealing with Loki flashbacks, which our conversation earlier didn't help. So, yeah, I'm worried about a team of distracted people going into a dangerous situation on SHIELD's hunch that the scepter is there."

Steve knows he has a point. His own focus isn't where it should be and he feels it more than ever in moments like this.

"We can still pull it together," Steve says. "We have to find a way to balance all this out. We'll do fine this weekend. We know what's coming."

Tony's not sure he's right this time. Bruce definitely isn't mentally prepared for a Code Green. Natasha's on edge, emotionally. Clint, usually rock solid, seems shaky.

"I hope you're right," he says, but Steve can hear the doubt in his tone.

"Tony, we can do this and still be who we are right now," Steve tells him. "Just because we go out there and kick HYDRA's ass doesn't mean I'm not going to come home and cuddle up with you in bed. We can have both."

"What if we can't," Tony says. "What if we disagree out there and then try and come back here and it doesn't work."

"Then we'll talk it out," Steve says. "I'm not letting you push me away."

"I'm not trying to!" Tony protests.

"You're imagining problems where they don't exist," Steve points out. "We're going to be okay, Tony. I promise."

Tony collapses against him, burying his face in the crook of Steve's neck. "I want to believe you," he says, quiet and sincere. "But I'm scared you're going to be wrong. I don't want to lose you."

"That's never going to happen," Steve promises. "It's always going to be you and me, no matter what."

Tony hugs him tight. "I love you," he says.

"I love you too," Steve whispers, holds him close as he repeats, "We're going to be okay, Tony. All of us."

Tony closes his eyes and breathes him in, focuses on the warmth of Steve all around him and tries to believe it with everything he is.


End file.
